1960's SANFL

[baggy8]

Yes. I realise what you are saying LL. I have seen the Oatey name as well in 1880s reports. Given that Bob's son David certainly played league as well, if we can prove that the Oatey in the 1880s was a direct descendant that would be a staggering 5 generations in a row, provided that my thoughts regarding Ted Oatey are also correct.

Ted Oatey played a couple of games at Port in 1920 and four at Torrens in 1922. Oatey's certainly not a common name, but if there was a direct link between the North man of the 1880s and the rest of the clan, you can be pretty sure that Mark Beswick, who's done a ton of work in this area, would've found it by now.

[mal]

1960s Participants Ive met at the racecourses 4

DOUG THOMAS
Could easily hold the title of Mr West Adelaide
218 games for WA [1951-1965]
Was also the WA coach in 1963-1965
Doug went on to become a long serving Administrator for his beloved Westies

I never saw Doug play footy so cannot comment on his playing career
But Ive often 'heard' him in the media
A real personality and has acquired the 'nickname' of Doug the Mouth

Ive met Doug at the trots a few times not so long ago, and we also used to greet each other at Richmond Oval games
We have had some brief chats about West Adelaide
He is a really passionate Westies man, and a really nice man to chat with

[robranisgod]

1960s Participants Ive met at the racecourses 4

DOUG THOMAS
Could easily hold the title of Mr West Adelaide
218 games for WA [1951-1965]
Was also the WA coach in 1963-1965
Doug went on to become a long serving Administrator for his beloved Westies

I never saw Doug play footy so cannot comment on his playing career
But Ive often 'heard' him in the media
A real personality and has acquired the 'nickname' of Doug the Mouth

Ive met Doug at the trots a few times not so long ago, and we also used to greet each other at Richmond Oval games
We have had some brief chats about West Adelaide
He is a really passionate Westies man, and a really nice man to chat with

Doug Thomas was a magnificent kick, sometimes of the ball. He was normally referred to as "Dirty Doug". He was a good enough player to represent South Australia both as a full forward and a full back. He clashed with Jack Oatey and went off to coach Dimboola for a couple of years so he would have had an even more imposing record if he hadn't missed those couple of years when in his mid 20s.

[mal]

Interesting times at WA in the 1960s

Jack Oatey coached WA 1957 -1960
Doug Thomas played from 1951-1957
Thomas played 1 season under Oatey
Thomas did not play for WA between 1958-1960 the years Oatey coached
Oatey spent 1961 in coaching limbo, [and his 2 coached teams played in the 61 G/F NW V WA]
Thomas resumed his playing career in 1961 and played until 1965
Neil Kerley took over as Captain Coach in 1961 for 2 years
Kerley was outed as coach after the 1962 season
Thomas took over as the WA coach in 1963

RIG has posted Thomas had some sort of rift with Oatey
That Thomas only returned when Oatey stopped coaching at WA stacks up

QUESTIONS
Why did Jack Oatey stop coaching WA, he must have had good players in that playing time ?
Did Neil Kerley specifically out himself from coaching at WA , over money issues ?
Why was Thomas outed as coach after the 1965 season ?

History shows that after Kerley left the WA club, that Westies slipped as a formidable team
Ironically WA waited 22 more years for a flag in 1983, when Neil Kerley was the coach, and Doug Thomas the Administrator
WA beat ST in the 1983 GF
And this the year after Jack Oatey stopped coaching ST [1962-1982]
For the second time in his life Jack Oatey stopped coaching and saw WA win a flag the next season

[FOURTH ESTATE]

Grand Final Apperances of the 1960's

Port Adelaide 1962,63,64,65,66,67,68 3-4 record
Sturt 1965,66,67,68,69, 4-1
North Adelaide 1960,63 1-1
West Adelaide 1961,62 1-1
South Adelaide 1964 1-0
Norwood 1960,61 0-2
Glenelg 1969 0-1

West Torrens Nil
Central District Nil
Woodville Nil


Have always believed that the introduction of Woodville had a major impact on West Torrens and they were never the same after that. If you look at the players that played for Woodville image how good West Torrens would have been if they had played for them instead. Part of the reason Woodville was intorduced into the league was to blunt the might of Port Adelaide but it had the opposite effect.

[FOURTH ESTATE]

Kerley was sacked by West Adelaide after the 62 season by the nameless & faceless people at West Adelaide. A mistake they would regret for many years as the club only made 4 finals appeances until its next flag in 83.
1969, 76, 77 & 81

[robranisgod]

Grand Final Apperances of the 1960's

Port Adelaide 1962,63,64,65,66,67,68 3-4 record
Sturt 1965,66,67,68,69, 4-1
North Adelaide 1960,63 1-1
West Adelaide 1961,62 1-1
South Adelaide 1964 1-0
Norwood 1960,61 0-2
Glenelg 1969 0-1

West Torrens Nil
Central District Nil
Woodville Nil


Have always believed that the introduction of Woodville had a major impact on West Torrens and they were never the same after that. If you look at the players that played for Woodville image how good West Torrens would have been if they had played for them instead. Part of the reason Woodville was intorduced into the league was to blunt the might of Port Adelaide but it had the opposite effect.

I have always thought that the introduction of Woodville was overrated in the demise of West Torrens. All clubs still had roughly the same number of people in their area. I think that the real reason for the West Torrens demise was the Reid Murray collapse of the early 1960s as discussed earlier in the thread. West Torrens went from being one of the richest clubs in the league (perhaps Australia) overnight to being a basket case financially and they never recovered. Remember in 1990 they were insolvent when they merged with Woodville.

[mal]

1961 BEST AND FAIREST WINNERS

GL... C RICHENS
NA... R HEWITT
NW... P AISH
PA... J POTTER
SA... D KANTILLA
ST... J HALBERT
WA... D KERLEY
WT... F BILLS


John Halbert must have been some sort of player
He won the 1961 Magarey Medal, on the day of his 24th birthday
And he was runner up a few times as well

QUESTIONS

Has anyone got all off Halberts Magarey Medal finishes ?


John Halberts grandfather, George played for WT
George is a life member at WT
Johns Dad attended Thebarton High School
Was John Halbert ever considered to play for WT ?

[FOURTH ESTATE]

How are Reid Murray & West Torrens linked. I was born in 1964 a little too young to know anything about it. Only what I have read in Wiki and google.

[nickname]

Interesting times at WA in the 1960s

Jack Oatey coached WA 1957 -1960
Doug Thomas played from 1951-1957
Thomas played 1 season under Oatey
Thomas did not play for WA between 1958-1960 the years Oatey coached
Oatey spent 1961 in coaching limbo, [and his 2 coached teams played in the 61 G/F NW V WA]
Thomas resumed his playing career in 1961 and played until 1965
Neil Kerley took over as Captain Coach in 1961 for 2 years
Kerley was outed as coach after the 1962 season
Thomas took over as the WA coach in 1963

RIG has posted Thomas had some sort of rift with Oatey
That Thomas only returned when Oatey stopped coaching at WA stacks up

QUESTIONS
Why did Jack Oatey stop coaching WA, he must have had good players in that playing time ?
Did Neil Kerley specifically out himself from coaching at WA , over money issues ?
Why was Thomas outed as coach after the 1965 season ?

History shows that after Kerley left the WA club, that Westies slipped as a formidable team
Ironically WA waited 22 more years for a flag in 1983, when Neil Kerley was the coach, and Doug Thomas the Administrator
WA beat ST in the 1983 GF
And this the year after Jack Oatey stopped coaching ST [1962-1982]
For the second time in his life Jack Oatey stopped coaching and saw WA win a flag the next season

Mal, Don Taylor coached West in 1965. Thomas coached in '63 and '64.

[nickname]

Kerley was sacked by West Adelaide after the 62 season by the nameless & faceless people at West Adelaide. A mistake they would regret for many years as the club only made 4 finals appeances until its next flag in 83.
1969, 76, 77 & 81

I don't think they were nameless and faceless, they were the committee, led by Cliff Semmler.
And it was 5 finals appearances...you omitted 1968.

[dedja]

So what was the story then?

[robranisgod]

How are Reid Murray & West Torrens linked. I was born in 1964 a little too young to know anything about it. Only what I have read in Wiki and google.

Ossie O'Grady the West Torrens president was also the chief of Reid Murray, whci was the fourth biggest company in Australia. It was unexpectedly placed into receivership in May, 1963. Not only did Ossie O'Grady lose much of his personal fortune but a lot of other West Torrens benefactors lost a lot of money as well. Ossie O'Grady remained president of West Torrens almost until his death in 1971, but he obviously could not put the funds into the club that he once had.

As I said earlier it was an intersting, and sad part of SA's history which is relatively unknown now. The demise of Ossie O'Grady was very sad, because although in some regards he could be considered the forerunner of Alan Bond and Christopher Skase and the like, he was never found guilty of any criminal conduct and he certainly did a lot of good for the community. And nearly to the end he fought for his beloved West Torrens Footy club.

[nickname]

I'm sure there's more to it than has come out but it seems Semmler (the President) and Kerley clashed a fair bit, and ultimately the committee backed Semmler over Kerley. I find it amazing that Kerley then agreed to play on in '63 under Thomas. Even more frustrating is that Semmler then resigned at the end of '63 to take up a post with the Australian Wheat Board, so we ended up losing Kerley for an administrator who then left a year later.

[mal]

The Kerley axing in 1963
OK I have version of some happenings by a piece written by that superb SANFL historian Bernard Whimpress


An immediate storm broke over the heads of the WA committee , especially over the chairman, Mr Cliff Semmler, and a protest meeting was attended by more than 500 supporters.
A petition then asked the club committee to call a special meeting to discuss the coaching controversy.
At this meeting, held in January , a motion of no confidence failed to gain the required 2/3rds majority and so, as a result, the next development was the nomination of 4 Kerley supporters for the club committee.

Big Advertisements urging WA members to vote these candidates into office appeared in both daily papers in the week before the clubs annual meeting but when the votes were cast 3 of the 4 supporters of the previous committee were re-elected and Thomas remained as WA coach


Neil Kerley played the 1963 season with WA
In 1964 he coached SA , and SA went on to win a Premiership

[FOURTH ESTATE]

Kerley was sacked by West Adelaide after the 62 season by the nameless & faceless people at West Adelaide. A mistake they would regret for many years as the club only made 4 finals appeances until its next flag in 83.
1969, 76, 77 & 81

I don't think they were nameless and faceless, they were the committee, led by Cliff Semmler.
And it was 5 finals appearances...you omitted 1968.

My bad I thought there was another final apperance in thier somewhere.

[FOURTH ESTATE]

When members of committees think they are bigger than the club and it is all about them that is when clubs fall apart when egos get in the way and power struggles happen.

[robranisgod]

The Kerley axing in 1963
OK I have version of some happenings by a piece written by that superb SANFL historian Bernard Whimpress


An immediate storm broke over the heads of the WA committee , especially over the chairman, Mr Cliff Semmler, and a protest meeting was attended by more than 500 supporters.
A petition then asked the club committee to call a special meeting to discuss the coaching controversy.
At this meeting, held in January , a motion of no confidence failed to gain the required 2/3rds majority and so, as a result, the next development was the nomination of 4 Kerley supporters for the club committee.

Big Advertisements urging WA members to vote these candidates into office appeared in both daily papers in the week before the clubs annual meeting but when the votes were cast 3 of the 4 supporters of the previous committee were re-elected and Thomas remained as WA coach


Neil Kerley played the 1963 season with WA
In 1964 he coached SA , and SA went on to win a Premiership

Many of the Kerley supporters followed him to South Adelaide and then onto Glenelg. They seemed to then remain at Glenelg even after Kerley's 10 year reign. Certainly Westies supporter base never fully recovered from this split in the club.

[nickname]

When members of committees think they are bigger than the club and it is all about them that is when clubs fall apart when egos get in the way and power struggles happen.

Yes, without knowing all the facts you'd think that the best interests of the club would have been for Kerley to continue, and any amount of pride should have been swallowed to accommodate that.

[Leaping Lindner]

History repeats 30 years later (almost). Kevin Morris got West into a Grand Final and then "See ya". Makes you wonder.